Students Take Longer Version of SAT

3-11-05 - (AP) For many students, it'll be nearly four hours that could shape four years of their futures.

Saturday is SAT day for thousands of high schoolers, and the test before them will be unlike any before.

The College Board has revamped this year's edition, to include an essay and more emphasis on grammar and advanced math, while also taking out some vocabulary words.

The test has been revised to more accurately reflect what kids should be learning in school. It adds a writing section for the first time, along with more of an emphasis on grammar and tougher math -- while doing away with dreaded analogies.

Test administrators say the redesigned test isn't harder than the old one -- just different.

But that hasn't kept a record number of kids from using test preparation companies like Princeton Review and Kaplan for help.

A Princeton Review official says the key bit of advice is for kids to simply "relax."

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